He started his career in manufacturing and went from an engineer to chief designer and eventually to CEO. He led several state-owned defense companies, where he greatly improved production, increased profits, and successfully managed the development, testing, and launching of new products.
In April 2023, Herman Smetanin was appointed CEO of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom", where he began a major transformation to turn the company into a joint-stock company. Under his leadership, state-owned companies started the process of corporatization, a supervisory board was created, and a strong anti-corruption system was set up.
In 2023, Ukroboronprom’s companies increased production by 92% from the previous year, reaching 82 billion UAH, which helped Ukroboronprom rank 49th in the world’s top 100 defense companies for 2024. In September 2023, he was appointed Minister of Strategic Industries. In this role, he continues to work on growing the sector by increasing production, building international partnerships, localizing production, and bringing innovations into Ukraine’s defense industry.
He holds two master’s degrees: one in mechanical engineering from Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University, and one in management from the National Technical University of Ukraine, "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute".